To the editor:

As a father and public servant with a clear record of support for children and families, I have always stood firm in my commitment to protect our children from sexual abuse.

While much has been made of my “no” vote on House Bill 8230 by my opponent and the Republican Party, I’m writing to set the record straight and correct their inaccuracies. When I was a prosecutor in the Attorney General’s office, I participated in the prosecution of dozens of sexual assault cases. I have a deep respect for the difficulty and sensitivity of this issue which is not being represented by the casual distortions from my opponent.

I strongly support the intent of the bill, which is to criminalize sexual contact between teachers and students. However, I have significant reservations about how the bill is constructed, in that the bill’s language is too broad. I have been asked why I object to the language if the end result is good.

As a legislator, I take seriously the responsibility to make good laws, laws that do what we want them to do and do not have unintended consequences. In this case, the language is flawed because this bill does not actually talk about teachers and students. Instead the bill creates a vague and confusing category of people in a “position of authority” and various rules about how they relate to other people. The result is that some otherwise innocent relationships between young adults, who are not in an educational setting at all, are criminalized. The ACLU objected to the bill for this reason and I agree with the ACLU.

My opponent’s attack ignores these problems. It also ignores my very strong legislative record of protecting kids. A short list of my work in this area includes successful legislation to improve background checks for those who work with children, improving the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act to help more victims, protecting children by adding them to our domestic violence law, and requiring DCYF to follow up on each and every allegation of childhood sexual abuse.

These recent attempts to discredit me are simply political theater to distract from the real issues – issues that our district cares about like reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, supporting the local community and economy, fixing our bike path bridges, and addressing climate change.

(It’s worth noting that my opponent appears content to ignore these issues. Moreover his numerous letters to the editor, NRA “A” rating, and RI Right to Life endorsement suggest he would be hostile to these concerns.)

I’m happy to talk with any constituent about my position on this issue and any other. I encourage you to reach out.

Jason Knight

Barrington